Reframing the domestic smartness. Artificial intelligence between utopia and dystopia

With AI spreading in domestic environments, the space of the house can acquire new meanings, functions and unlock new possibilities. The digital realm can pervade physical spaces to better take care of the inhabitants of the house. However, how are private domains going to evolve to embrace the potentialities and changes that AI is offering and play a crucial role in developing our well-being? These practices are at an embryonic phase, and not enough reflections are being made in the design community as they are missing the tools and methods to deal with AI. Nevertheless, the design discipline might translate its expertise into this trending technological field, fostering concrete answers and reasonable solutions for a new way of inhabiting the domestic environment. Accordingly, the primary purpose of this chapter is to stimulate a conversation about this topic in the design community. To drive the investigation and trigger critical reflections, six – more or less – near-future scenarios, in the form Science Fiction Prototypes (SFPs), are envisioned. They are rooted in the convergence of psychology, design, and AI, revolving around theories of emotions to impact human beings beneficially. Then, a survey, including the evaluation of four of the SFPs, is presented to advance the discussion further and pave the way towards a designerly perspective on AI systems for the domestic environment.